Jason was not a big fan of us today (kidding, we really enjoy the debates). However, he brought up a really great point that most everyone agreed with! Some thought Vin Scully was shafted by losing out on the 1-seed to Joe Buck. The good news? The decision is now in YOUR hands with the Best Play-By-Play Announcer bracket. We have a feeling Vin Scully is going to move on to the next round. Below we have the updated bracket and some commentary from Jeff Lowe, Marco Ranzi, Dan Smith and Kevin Gallagher. At the very end of the post, there is information and a link for second round voting.

FOOTBALL REGION

KEVIN GALLAGHER: Is there seriously anyone that would actually take Tirico over Michaels?

MARCO: I like they both have similar styles and obviously pull it off tremendously, so yes I would think about. In the end though, it’s Michaels.

JEFF: Ah, the ole master versus the apprentice matchup. The former Monday Night Football announcer versus the newest one. This didn’t go to well for Dave Strader against Doc Emrick. Darth Vader eventually struck down Obi-Wan, but I don’t think Al Michaels is as old as Sir Alec Guinness was back in the original Star Wars. With that said, Al still has the upper hand on Mike.

DAN: Al Michaels is better than Mike Tirico.

KEVIN: Do the Harlan Shake!

JEFF: Oh my gosh, really? You do stand-up comedy? Goodness. Anyway, I love Harlan, and there is nobody as descriptive as him, but Tessitore is a machine right now.

MARCO: This is the toughest choice thus far for me; I’m a huge fan of both Harlan and Tessitore.

KEVIN: Yes, right now. But I have to go with the experience and in this particular bracket; I’m taking Harlan over Tessitore.

MARCO: Harlan calling football on the radio is pure gold.

JEFF: I have to go with Joe Tessitore due to the idea of “what have you done for me lately.” This is best play-by-play announcer right NOW and that is what he is in the football world. If we used past success then we would’ve seeded Gus Johnson higher than a 6-seed!

KEVIN: Harlan hasn’t gone the path of Johnson though, trying to make things more exciting because he wants to keep a reputation.

MARCO: You really have to dig deep here to pick one over the other. I’m going with Harlan because of his prowess on the radio waves. The degree of difficult is higher and in my mind that’s when he’s at his best.

DAN: And I’m going to nod this back up with a selection of Tess. Harlan is excellent, but I can’t ignore the hot hand. Maybe in a year or two the scales will tip. But Tess has run by Harlan this season.

BASKETBALL REGION

JEFF: Verne would’ve gone toe-to-toe with Breen a few years back, but not any longer. Also, is the Mike Breen laugh better than the Gus Johnson “Ha-Haaa!” laugh? Gotta go with Mike Breen.

KEVIN: Lundquist is starting to become legendary in the NCAA tournament, but that also means he has lost some of his touch. Breen is the best in the game, I’m taking him in a landslide.

MARCO: Breen also has a better understanding of the game. He’s gotten a ton of reps since he’s been calling games for the Knicks for almost a decade now.

DAN: Lundquist and Raftery would win best pair, no question. But independently, Breen is just better. He’s more on top of the game than Lundquist is at this point.

KEVIN: I think we’re all unanimous on this.

MARCO: Breen also has to control Jeff Van Gundy, which is no easy task at times.

JEFF: Can we at least agree that Verne is the funnier of the two? Side note – Verne’s call of Northwestern State’s upset of Iowa in the 2006 NCAA Tournament is classic. (Call starts at 1:00)

JEFF: I think I wasted my character limit on Ian Eagle in the first round. So let’s just remind you, with a video, how excellent he is:

MARCO: That’s a great video, Jeff.

DAN: It’s close. It really is. But I think Eagle just gets a slight edge here. I’m almost mad at myself for voting against McDonough though.

KEVIN: Hmmm… now this is the hardest one to pick, in my opinion, so far. Both are excellent play-by-plays, they do their homework and have great versatility. However, I just think Ian does a better job of pacing his calls, so I’m going to say Eagle.

MARCO: I’m going with Eagle as well. He’s been getting a lot of praise lately, recently won an Emmy for Sports play-by-play in the Spring, and deservedly so. Although at this point in the bracket you really can’t go wrong.

BASEBALL REGION

KEVIN: I’m taking Buck for the same reason I take Breen, best television guy in baseball right now and he beats all.

MARCO: I’m going with the upset here. Buck is good but he doesn’t get me as invested in the game as Orsillo does. It just doesn’t seem like Buck enjoys his job as much as his counterpart here.

JEFF: This really is getting tough, huh? Love the gutsy pick Marco, because Orsillo is great, but Joe Buck is on a pedestal right now in the baseball-broadcasting world.

MARCO: Plus I called Don Dan earlier so I feel like I owe him one.

JEFF: I am guessing he now forgives you.

MARCO: If this doesn’t work I don’t know what will.

DAN: I would have said what Marco was saying a few years ago, but I think Buck has listened to the criticisms of his apparent boredom and has made a concerted effort to show how much he’s enjoying the games. You could really notice it during the postseason. His call of Ortiz’s grand slam against Detroit was perfect.

JEFF: Not only does Buck listen to his critics, he also taunts them on Twitter. You have to love that.

JEFF: You really can’t pick Joe Buck and then follow up by not picking Vin Scully. Also, this picture we found of Dan Shulman is rather unfortunate. He looks as though he is irritated to be included in this bracket.

KEVIN: Vin Scully is the master and I really don’t care if you’re putting Dan Shulman or Tom McCarthy against him, he’s the best that there ever was in baseball and I feel I’d be committing blasphemy if I didn’t give Vin the go-ahead in this matchup.

JEFF: *bat flip*

MARCO: Scully and Buck in the finals? Couldn’t have seen that one coming… Also while Shulman looks like the paparazzi tracked him down in his picture, Scully looks like he’s posing for a photo shoot and is a boss.

DAN: Scully is a legend and hasn’t lost a step. Unfair matchup for Shulman, but that’s life.

OTHER REGION

JEFF: It is unfortunate that hockey has such a smaller presence in the United States than it one had. Doc Emrick suffers from this in terms of national recognition, but it doesn’t mean we don’t recognize him. This one goes easily to the Doc.

MARCO: As Dan noted in the previous bout, this is another unfair matchup. Hicks is very good at what he does but still doesn’t compare to Emrick.

KEVIN: Hicks is a great announcer, but no one can top Emricks excitement that gets you into the game. He’s my pick

DAN: Emrick is liked by people who hate hockey. It doesn’t get much better than that.

JEFF: Emrick is also less than 100-days away from being heard at the Olympic Games again. So his popularity will spike much like Hicks’ does from Olympic swimming.

DAN: Dear lord, Talk about unfair matchups. This is just sad.

JEFF: We all knew we were destined for a Doc Emrick and Ian Darke matchup.

KEVIN: In my opinion, Darke helped raise the sport of soccer in the last few years with his no holds barred play-by-play and excitement at the right times. It buries Nantz’s golf whisper any day. Put on the coffee and make it DARKE!

MARCO: We really like coining these unfair matchups. It’s becoming a tradition unlike any other.

DAN: Darke is a better broadcaster, has a sense of humor and doesn’t take himself too seriously. This might be the biggest blowout of the whole bracket.

Alright you Vin Scully fans (we are fans too), go ahead and vote the legend thru to the next round. I feel as though everyone would like to see him runaway with it. Personally, we want to see Joe Tessitore go far in this competition. Try and make that happen, voters. The time is now to GO VOTE FOR THE MATCH-UPS BY CLICKING HERE. The results will be posted on Saturday morning, along with voting for the Elite Eight. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.